Hospitality jobs in high demand

Institute reacts to growing industry

Joseph Clohessy, general manager for the Marriott hotel in Calgary.

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon
, Calgary Herald

Tourism and hospitality is the third-largest industry in Alberta and demand for jobs in that sector - especially those requiring post-secondary education - are expected to increase sharply over the next decade, according to industry forecasts and experts.

"Over the next 10 to 15 years, the industry is going to continue to grow and we're going to see high demand for skilled positions," says Joseph Clohessy, general manager of the Calgary Marriott Hotel, the highest revenue-generating hotel in the Canadian operations of the global hotel chain. "That's where we see the future."

Careers at the supervisory and management level in hospitality, in particular, increasingly require job candidates to hone and upgrade their skills to land the top jobs, say experts.

"From a post-secondary perspective, this is an industry that's under-served," says Ranil Herath, president of the Canadian operations of DeVry Institute of Technology. "It's highly appropriate that we have more credentials at a bachelor's, diploma or even a master's level in this industry."

In the past five years, it was most difficult to find entry-level, hourly employees, especially during the intense boom years of 2006-07 in Alberta. Now, the focus is shifting to management-level positions.

"Since then, the quality of (hourly) candidates has been strong," Clohessy says. "Where we've been focusing now is developing our leaders. That's where it's going to become extremely competitive is developing the supervisory and management level (employees)."

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) recently found there are currently about 55,000 unfilled private sector jobs in Alberta, with 3.7 per cent in construction, followed by 2.9 per cent in hospitality.

The challenge for people who have worked in the hospitality sector without postsecondary qualifications is that they have relied on experience alone to allow them to rise up through the ranks. That may be increasingly difficult.

"There is a place for everyone ... but there are careers," says Clohessy, who is the past-chair of the Calgary Hotel Association (CHA) and sits on the board of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA).

Post-secondary training is progressively being seen as a requirement to enter management roles. It's an industry often overlooked as a career path, since many students work entry-level jobs in university or college just to pay the bills.

This month, DeVry launched an online advanced diploma in hospitality management and in sales and marketing. Both programs are transferable into its bachelor's degree program in business administration.

SAIT Polytechnic has well-established and internationally-recognized programs in hospitality and culinary arts, while Olds College in Red Deer is in the process of launching a program of its own.

One of the obstacles, says Herath, for employees working in remote locations such as Banff or Lake Louise is the lack of direct access to in-class education. He hopes DeVry's online program will help accommodate those workers.

Demand for skilled workers is only expected to increase in coming years. "I see this growing and the response from industry has been overwhelming with delight," says Herath.

Calgary's hospitality industry at a glance

The Conference Board of Canada projects Calgary to lead Canada's major metropolitan centres in visitor and tourism spending this year, with overnight visits up four per cent over last year and tourism spending expected to rise by six per cent

Eighty-four per cent of Calgarians believe employees with post-secondary education are vital to growing the city's tourism and hospitality industry Expanding the sector is rated by 95 per cent of respondents as important to the city's economic growth. Eight in 10 surveyed believe job candidates with postsecondary training have an advantage over those without it.

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